MEANING
To misunderstand what someone means or what is happening in a situation.
Use it for
describing a message interpreted incorrectly; correcting someone’s mistaken impression; showing a misunderstanding rather than deliberate deception; explaining that a listener has drawn the wrong meaningDescribes interpreting a message or situation incorrectly, rather than lacking information altogether. Writing functions: Misunderstanding / Interpretation. Semantic categories (by meaning): Misunderstanding / Interpretation. Contexts: General conversation; Creative prose.
Words that belong together
- completely get the wrong end of the stick
- think someone has got the wrong end of the stick
On the page
I got the wrong end of the stick: I thought you wanted the meeting cancelled.
The apology only confused him further; he had completely got the wrong end of the stick.
Word forms
- Base
- get the wrong end of the stick
Usage notes
Verbal idiom: get/gets/got/got or gotten/getting the wrong end of the stick. British past participle got; American gotten is possible with get. Register: informal. Commonness: moderately common; especially British English (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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